Semiconductor technology continues to advance at a rapid rate. Advancements include increases in semiconductor die density which allows for ever-increasing amounts of circuitry in any given die size, and also include increases in speeds at which semiconductor circuits operate. Higher semiconductor die densities and increased semiconductor circuit speeds combine to increase the computational speed in computers and other electronic devices.
Along with increased density and speed of semiconductor devices comes increased power consumption. State-of-the-art semiconductor circuits can consume considerable amounts of power, much of which gets dissipated as heat. The problem of increased heat dissipation is compounded by the fact that as semiconductor dice shrink, the amount of heat to be dissipated per unit area of semiconductor die increases.
Heat is typically dissipated from semiconductor dice through packages in which they are housed. A surface area of the semiconductor die is typically thermally bonded to a part of the package for the purpose of dissipating heat from the die. As the combined die and package undergo thermal and physical stress in normal testing and usage, the integrity of the thermal bond tends to degrade. As long as the die can continue to dissipate enough heat, the degradation can be tolerated.
As the need for power dissipation increases, the ability to withstand degradation of thermal bonds decreases. Continued integrity of thermal bonds between semiconductor dice and their packages after undergoing physical and thermal stresses can help high power semiconductor devices dissipate heat.
The demand for semiconductors also continues to increase, and as a result, high power semiconductors are being manufactured in greater and greater quantities. Manufacturability is an important consideration in any high-volume production environment, and semiconductors and their associated packages are no exception.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a readily manufacturable semiconductor packaging solution capable of efficiently dissipating heat.